June 12, 2014

Guest Promo (XII)

An avid pool table player,
Gina has yet to meet her match among her billiard pals.Pete O’Reily, one of the guys she plays
against at a local bar, finds someone he thinks will finally give her a
challenging game.

Gina was thrilled she could finally
compete with someone who sharpened her skills, but Sean Savage became much more
to her after a few games.She started
falling in love with Sean who remained loyal to his career-focused girlfriend,
Cindy.Gina, having been hurt by a
cheating ex-boyfriend, is determined not to cause the same pain to any
woman.Because of this, she keeps her
feelings for Sean a secret from everyone except her flamboyant cousin Gene and
a girlfriend on the other side of the city.

Without realization, Sean stretches her
ability to do this whenever he visits her like she’s one of the guys.Conflict occurs on many fronts: Gina avoids
her ex, Hank, who wants to get back together; Sean longs to marry Cindy who
spends more time at work than with him; and Gina has a falling out with Sean
when he tries to set her up with a friend of his.

Will true love prevail?

Excerpt

“I hear you play a mean pool game,” Sean
started.He couldn’t help but agree that
she was cute, her round 1920’s features hugged by blond curls that bounced just
above her jaw line when she turned to face him.Her smile accentuated her sparkling eyes.

“I heard the same about you.I think the guys brag too much.I love the game and practice a lot.Where do you play?I’ve never seen you before,” Gina said in a
soft, velvet tone.She seemed guarded
while she looked him over.

“I frequent another bar across town.Coworkers from the brokerage company I work
for often go there.”

She wrinkled up her nose.“Oh, you’re one of those.”

“Why?You don’t like the business?” Sean asked, taking a seat next to her.

“It’s just that the stock market is so,
well, unpredictable.I just don’t
understand what’s so fun about doing work based on guesses.”

Sean thought of many other questions, but
decided to not start waves this early.“Hmm.What do you do when you’re
not playing pool?”

“I teach kindergarten at one of the private
schools in the area.Otherwise, I keep
to myself.”Gina glanced past him.“I think they’re becoming impatient.Ready to play?”She stood and stepped toward the pool tables
on the other side of the room.

Sean followed.“You bet.Rack ‘em up.”

“Best out of three?”

“Sure.Lady’s first.”

“Uh, Sean, that may be a mistake,” Pete warned.

Sean panned the room to find shaking heads
all around.“It’s cool guys.I’d like to see what she’s got.”

“Your funeral.”Pete backed away from the table.

Sean ignored his pal and nodded for Gina to
take her first shot.After she pocketed
four balls, Sean suddenly realized the prowess with which she played.Each shot possessed her full attention.Her stance never wavered once her study of
the current layout was complete.The cue
slid through her fingers as if coated with butter.

She’s good.Too good.

Sean determined not to mess up the only
shot she’d probably let him have during the game.However, as he surveyed the table, he
realized, to his dismay, that his shot would be more difficult to make than
hers.He’d have to hit the cue into one
of hers to get to his.He had no intention
of pocketing a ball for Gina.

He leaned over the table and exhaled before
banking the cue ball into two of his, pocketing one.

I’m still in the game.

Sweat dripped off his chin as he made one
shot after another.Then the unexpected
happened.

She winked at him.

She’d used the same tactic he used on her
and it worked.His heart pumped a bit
faster, just enough to distract him for a split second.He stared at the ball teetering near the
pocket and sighed.He knew she would
pocket his ball in order to make her next shot, but that wouldn’t help
him.She wasn’t going to mess up twice.

Gina won the first game bringing on a loud
cheer from the others Sean learned she had consistently beaten over the past
few months.Sean strolled over to her
and gave her hand a congratulatory shake.

“Great game,” he said. That won’t happen again.

Author Bio

Cassandra Ulrich was born on the beautiful island of St. Croix,
United States Virgin Islands, located east of Puerto Rico.Living in the tropics fueled her imagination
and day dreams.For years, she wrote
poetry and entered competitions.However, only many years later did she discover joy in writing stories
longer than a few pages.

She published her first young adult novel,
A Beautiful Girl, in April 2011.The
inspirational novel has already touched many hearts ranging from teens to
adults.

Her second novel, Love’s Intensity, a teen paranormal romance,
was released on July 11, 2013.

Her third, Billiard Buddies, a New Adult
romance novella, was released on May 24, 2014.
Find her here